Friday, August 21, 2015

There's been a slight (and pretty cool) epidemic, as of late, of world class filmmakers slipping their movies completely under the radar until they are edited and finished and premiering at festivals (see: Noah Baumbach). The latest director to add to that list is one Paul Thomas Anderson whose mysterious India exploits with Jonny Greenwoodwere actually the fruits of his first-ever documentary.

That's right... PTA made a documentary! The film is called Junun and will premiere at the 53rd New York Film Festival in the Special Events category. It comes in just under an hour long and here's NYFF website has to say about it:

Paul Thomas Anderson, USA, 2015, DCP, 54m

English, Hindu, Hebrew, and Urdu with English subtitles

Earlier this year, Paul Thomas Anderson joined his close friend and collaborator Jonny Greenwood on a trip to Rajasthan in northwest India, where they were hosted by the Maharaja of Jodhpur, and he brought his camera with him. Their destination was the 15th-century Mehrangarh Fort, where Greenwood (with the help of Radiohead engineer Nigel Godrich) was recording an album with Israeli composer Shye Ben Tzur and an amazing group of musicians: Aamir Bhiyani, Soheb Bhiyani, Ajaj Damami, Sabir Damami, Hazmat, and Bhanwaru Khan on brass; Ehtisham Khan Ajmeri, Nihal Khan, Nathu Lal Solanki, Narsi Lal Solanki, and Chugge Khan on percussion; Zaki Ali Qawwal, Zakir Ali Qawwal, Afshana Khan, Razia Sultan, Gufran Ali, and Shazib Ali on vocals; and Dara Khan and Asin Khan on strings. The finished film, just under an hour, is pure magic. Junun lives and breathes music, music-making, and the close camaraderie of artistic collaboration. It’s a lovely impressionistic mosaic and a one-of-a-kind sonic experience: the music will blow your mind. World Premiere

Notably, as you'll see in the photographs in the above link in this post, PTA shot this one (at least in part) digitally. We can't wait to see what his first outing in that format yielded. With Pinocchio potentially getting underway soon, the fact that PTA has kept busy with this and the Joanna Newsom music video is very exciting. Stay tuned!